Umbilical Cord Blood: Medical Waste or Important Source of Stem Cells?

Abstract

The identification of new sources of stem cells may provide significant clinical benefits in the regenerative medicine. Although sometimes still regarded as a medical waste, the blood remained in the umbilical vein after birth (Umbilical Cord Blood, UCB) has become a valuable alternative source of haematopoietic stem cells for the treatment of various disorders.Using UCB is advantageous because it is obtained by a simple, safe and painless procedure when the baby is delivered. The immaturity of UCB cells resulted in a reduced graft-versus-host disease when compared to bone marrow grafts. Furthermore, there may be particular utility in using UCB in the context of HLA mismatch between available donor and recipient. However, due to the limited number of stem cells, the progress in the field has been largely restricted to children. Nevertheless, evidence supporting the efficacy of a double transplant of UCB in adults has significantly increased over the past years, as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation in those adult patients where no compatible donors are available.Today, new parents may choose to have the UCB stored in a stem cell bank. These banks can be public (non-profit) or private (for-profit). The public banks store UCB from donors and provide it when transplantation is prescribed to an unrelated patient. Unfortunately, donation to a public bank is not possible everywhere, although their number is growing. On contrary, the private banks offer a commercial service to parents in order to preserve the UCB for future needs of their child. Storing UCB in such private banks is controversial and recommended only in the case of historical existence of a genetic disease; otherwise the likelihood of stored UCB being used in autologous transplant is negligible. This and other ethical aspects of UCB banking are discussed in this paper.

Utility of Placental Umbilical Cord Blood in Autoimmune and Degenerative Disorders

“…So we are looking for the optional source of human blood; that can be umbilical cord blood (UCB) or cadaveric blood which can be saved and utilized [4]. Previously, it was a general practice that after birth placenta and its cord was discarded as a medical waste [5]. Placenta and its cord has 80 to 120 ml precious human blood, a rich source of stem cells, so it can be saved, stored and used as a replacement of adult whole human blood as well as a source of virgin stem cells [6].…”

Toward Live Longer, Younger, Happier and Healthier: Reprogramming for a New Start or Just a Turn?

“…Embryonic stem (ES) cells are still used in various fields for diverse purposes, including gene targeting, cell therapy, tissue repair, organ regeneration, and so on. Dr. Burlacu [19] discussed on Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) as new sources of stem cells with significant clinical benefits in the regenerative medicine and as a valuable alternative source of haematopoietic stem cells for the treatment of various disorders. In addition, in this special issue, Dr. Xiao [20] placed their emphasis on epigenetic regulation of DNA methylation, histone modifications, non-coding microRNA regulation and chromatin remodelling, which are essential for the maintenance and differentiation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.…”